Man, I'm exhausted. It wasn't until last night that I got a full night's sleep, and even that hasn't fully ended my exhaustion. Now I've got chores to do... of course, I'm going to put them off as long as is humanly possible (probably until the end of this post).
I have no clue what's actually happening this weekend, but next weekend is Ed's party. I haven't bought a costume yet! ><() I know what I want to be, though, so it's simply a matter of going and getting. I also offered to drive Ed to the airport...I suppose I should call to get more details? I'll do that later. Or something.
Gah, today is going to be so blah!
On the novel-writing front, outlining for Cowboys and Mages is going well... MUCH better than Lucy in the Sky was. The only thing bothering me now is a bit of regret over not doing Lucy in the Sky, and that I've backed away from the science fantasy of Flight 62 to the pure fantasy (or is it adventure-fantasy?) of Cowboys and Mages. It's going to be fun to write, but in the end I'm not really a fan of fantasy stories and really wish I could do sci-fi. I'll see what happens... maybe, if I get lucky, I'll finish Cowboys and Mages early enough in November to leap ahead to Lucy in the Sky. ^_^
I've been thinking more about Flight 62 too. It needs to be edited and rewritten (although, I've decided the rewrite isn't going to be as major as I at first thought it might be) but, I've decided I need help doing so...doing it on my own simply isn't working. I know there's some kind of writing assistance center at the school, so I think I'll give that a shot (although, perhaps I should test it first with something smaller...Man of the Century, maybe? Or perhaps Doravon v. Raynor...
Speaking of my short stories: I still haven't finished anything! I know I can finish stuff with the voice recorder, but I just don't have any time...! This is turning into last semester: all of my time is completely sucked up by work, school, and the TV station...with what little free time is left taken up by either family or (rarely) friends. It's kinda bad news for NaNo... I wasn't nearly this busy last two Novembers. Something is going to seriously suffer this year... (probably TV. And the social life. And whatever schoolwork I'm unfortunately assigned.)
Ah well.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Return of the Long Forgotten Novel!
I've come to a sudden gut-wrenching, car-crashing, frog-exploding realization: I like writing Fantasy or Science Fantasy more than I like writing Science Fiction. Shocking, I know! I enjoy Sci-Fi so much, but for some reason writing fantasy and sci-fantasy is just so much more fun. Sci-fi, especially Hard Sci-fi like what Lucy in the Sky was going to be, requires lots of thinking about world details and things, which is fun... except, I tend to overthink world building and end up with no real story. When I write Fantasy... for some reason, I allow myself a degree of flexibility with fantasy that I refuse to accept with sci-fi. I enjoy sci-fi, and I'm not giving up on it, but I am beginning to accept that I have an easier time writing fantasy than I do writing sci-fi.
Because of this, I'm (regretfully) dropping Lucy in the Sky. At least for now. I just couldn't make it work in my head...I had a plot line and a world, but I couldn't develop the idea further than a half dozen scenes. Maybe I'll retool it as a short story after November? For now, I've decided to go all the way back to my ORIGINAL idea for my second NaNo... the book I planned to finish before I even began Flight 62.
That's right: Cowboys and Mages is back!
I have a few new ideas to help flesh out the story a bit, and since it's partly written I know what direction the first few chapters will go (I'm not going to copy/paste the prewritten bits, but rather using them as guidelines for the beginning). I'm excited! I always liked the idea and always meant to finish it. A bounty huntress... a werewolf... a private detective... a gangster... a mage... all in the Old West!
With this new direction, I'm sure I can do NaNo now. ^___^
Because of this, I'm (regretfully) dropping Lucy in the Sky. At least for now. I just couldn't make it work in my head...I had a plot line and a world, but I couldn't develop the idea further than a half dozen scenes. Maybe I'll retool it as a short story after November? For now, I've decided to go all the way back to my ORIGINAL idea for my second NaNo... the book I planned to finish before I even began Flight 62.
That's right: Cowboys and Mages is back!
I have a few new ideas to help flesh out the story a bit, and since it's partly written I know what direction the first few chapters will go (I'm not going to copy/paste the prewritten bits, but rather using them as guidelines for the beginning). I'm excited! I always liked the idea and always meant to finish it. A bounty huntress... a werewolf... a private detective... a gangster... a mage... all in the Old West!
With this new direction, I'm sure I can do NaNo now. ^___^
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Writing Woes!
Gah, my plot for NaNo is fading fast... and it's not even November yet! >_<() I've been very quickly losing faith in my ability to write this story. Something about it just doesn't sit right. I don't know what... it's not a BAD idea. I'm just getting a feeling that when November ends, if I've written anything at all the result will not be this. Maybe it'll incorporate some part of this, but not THIS.
Crap. ><#
Now what should I do? It's not too late to come up with a new plot, but I'm just so "blah" right now. My brain can't be bothered... which is bad, because I really believe the only reason Flight 62 was finished was because I outlined. Hm... maybe what I need to do is NOT think up a plot, but instead just start writing down scene ideas until a plot congeals. I'll try that for now and see how it works out.
Meanwhile, I've read C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent, and have started the sequel, Perelandra. So far, it's... all right. I like it, but not as much as I expected. Lewis did a few interesting things with Out of the Silent Planet... he explored people's misconceptions of what an alien should be like and said something about human potential, on top of the usual Christian themes. I also liked how he introduced several layers of "evil villains" early on, only for each level to be, upon closer inspection, no where near as evil (if at all!) as initially expected. My biggest complaint is that the story has an anti-climax, and just sort of peters out after that. Since it is the first in a trilogy, though, I'll forgive that for now and wait until I've read the whole thing before passing judgment.
Finally, I've recently been developing an ASB ("alien space bat" -- meaning, fundamentally impossible) what-if scenario at the alternatehistory.com forums. The premise is that the Race -- the lizard-like aliens from Harry Turtledove's Worldwar/Colonization series -- have been teleported from their alternate 1960s to real life 2007. I've been having fun writing it and been getting some nice praise (one guy said: "it's in the top one percent of anything posted on this website"...!!)
If you feel like checking it out, you can read it here: The Race, but not their Empire, ISOT to OTL 2007.
Don't be afraid to criticize! It can't be that good. I mean, it's essentially fan fiction! ^_^()
Crap. ><#
Now what should I do? It's not too late to come up with a new plot, but I'm just so "blah" right now. My brain can't be bothered... which is bad, because I really believe the only reason Flight 62 was finished was because I outlined. Hm... maybe what I need to do is NOT think up a plot, but instead just start writing down scene ideas until a plot congeals. I'll try that for now and see how it works out.
Meanwhile, I've read C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent, and have started the sequel, Perelandra. So far, it's... all right. I like it, but not as much as I expected. Lewis did a few interesting things with Out of the Silent Planet... he explored people's misconceptions of what an alien should be like and said something about human potential, on top of the usual Christian themes. I also liked how he introduced several layers of "evil villains" early on, only for each level to be, upon closer inspection, no where near as evil (if at all!) as initially expected. My biggest complaint is that the story has an anti-climax, and just sort of peters out after that. Since it is the first in a trilogy, though, I'll forgive that for now and wait until I've read the whole thing before passing judgment.
Finally, I've recently been developing an ASB ("alien space bat" -- meaning, fundamentally impossible) what-if scenario at the alternatehistory.com forums. The premise is that the Race -- the lizard-like aliens from Harry Turtledove's Worldwar/Colonization series -- have been teleported from their alternate 1960s to real life 2007. I've been having fun writing it and been getting some nice praise (one guy said: "it's in the top one percent of anything posted on this website"...!!)
If you feel like checking it out, you can read it here: The Race, but not their Empire, ISOT to OTL 2007.
Don't be afraid to criticize! It can't be that good. I mean, it's essentially fan fiction! ^_^()
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
I think I zoned out for minute there...
Uh... whoops! I think I forgot a month there. ^^()
Not much missed... just some school. And Aunt Sue and Johnny moving in, and Johnny moving out, and now Aunt Sue moving out as well soon. Oh yeah, and Ed's moving to California. And Halo 3 is awesome.
But, that's all!
Anyway, it's October, which means I'm getting started on prewriting for NaNoWriMo. So far, it looks like this year's novel is going to be titled "Lucy in the Sky", or something to that effect. It's a sci-fi story about a man (Jude) who's daughter (Lucy) goes off to fight a war on an alien world (Gliese 581 c). The war is mainly between the native Gliesians, our friend who we've had contact with for several hundred years, and the mysterious invaders, who suddenly appeared only a year before the human generation ship arrived in the system. Lucy becomes MIA, and Jude decides to leave the ship for the first time in his life and venture to the surface to find her. He finds that the world outside the ship is vastly different from what he expected, with the lines between good and evil much more blurred than he had assumed.
The story will mainly deal with Jude's search for Lucy, the differences between the human, Gliesian, and invader socio-biologies, and a the question of who is right and who is wrong in this conflict. I already know the ending (well, at least the grand finale at least), so I know what I want to work toward.
In the mean time, I'm trying to finish my short story Man of the Century. Hopefully, it'll be done by the end of the week.
Not much missed... just some school. And Aunt Sue and Johnny moving in, and Johnny moving out, and now Aunt Sue moving out as well soon. Oh yeah, and Ed's moving to California. And Halo 3 is awesome.
But, that's all!
Anyway, it's October, which means I'm getting started on prewriting for NaNoWriMo. So far, it looks like this year's novel is going to be titled "Lucy in the Sky", or something to that effect. It's a sci-fi story about a man (Jude) who's daughter (Lucy) goes off to fight a war on an alien world (Gliese 581 c). The war is mainly between the native Gliesians, our friend who we've had contact with for several hundred years, and the mysterious invaders, who suddenly appeared only a year before the human generation ship arrived in the system. Lucy becomes MIA, and Jude decides to leave the ship for the first time in his life and venture to the surface to find her. He finds that the world outside the ship is vastly different from what he expected, with the lines between good and evil much more blurred than he had assumed.
The story will mainly deal with Jude's search for Lucy, the differences between the human, Gliesian, and invader socio-biologies, and a the question of who is right and who is wrong in this conflict. I already know the ending (well, at least the grand finale at least), so I know what I want to work toward.
In the mean time, I'm trying to finish my short story Man of the Century. Hopefully, it'll be done by the end of the week.
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